Travellin' Penguin

“What good is the warmth of summer, without the cold of winter to give it sweetness.” 

LIFE…

You awake in the morning, listening to the rain. The bed is warm and cozy. Your fuzzy dogs are near. What do you do?

I got up, made a hot coffee, jumped into my gym gear and drove to the gym where I proceeded to do a 30 minute jog on the treadmill, some arm weight machines, and a lot of stretches while listening to geared up tunes. I had to tell myself winter cold is a state of mind and you’ll feel really good if you get yourself some exercise.

While I prefer to walk outdoors it isn’t always possible or comfortable with the cold rain.

BOOKS…

I am almost finished with the latest book I’m enjoying called Force of Nature by Joan M. Griffin.

This is the story of three women in their fifties who hike the 200 mile John Muir track through 200 miles of mountains.

From google– The John Muir Trail passes through what many backpackers say is the finest mountain scenery in the United States. This is a land of 13,000-foot and 14,000-foot peaks, of lakes in the thousands, and of canyons and granite cliffs. The John Muir Trail is also a land blessed with the mildest, sunniest climate of any major mountain range in the world.

The trail is 211 miles long and runs (mostly in conjunction with the PCT) from Yosemite Valley to Mount Whitney, in California. Winding through the famed Sierra Nevada, the JMT visits some of the crown jewels of America’s park system: Yosemite, John Muir and Ansel Adams Wildernesses, Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks end of google

I am enjoying the camaraderie of the walkers with each other and others on the trail. The adventure is high. It is an arduous track and the challenges are hard at times not to mention the enormous lightning storms around them with little shelter. The blurb on the book compares this book to A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson. I wouldn’t go that far. Bill Bryson is a much better writer than this one as he is a professional writer and he is also much, much funnier. There is a bit of naval gazing from the women which Bryson doesn’t do but I would still recommend this book to readers who enjoy stories of middle aged or older women who get out of their comfort zone to take on challenges, whatever they may be.

PHOTOGRAPHY…

I did a good walk in town of a few kilometres walking around Hobart, then up to North Hobart to a cafe for a cappuccino and a slice of lemon tart. The cappuccino was a bit of a disappointment as I ordered it in a cup and it was served in an espresso cup. Who does that? I was in too good of a mood to complain. I don’t know if it was a newly hired young staff member or a money saving exercise by this particular cafe who has been known for that but I just moved on. Such a first world issue.

On my local travels in Hobart and back to the bus stop I chatted to some women I found interesting. Either their culture, dress or smile attracted my attention. Here are the three lovely women.

COMING UP...

I have an 85th birthday lunch this week with a dear friend. Then Tuesday I have another dinner with some of my older friends. One is 89 and she just had a bad fall but she’s already up and about and back to her job at a community centre she works at. We are a tough bunch. Other than the social business, we should all engage in for better health, I hope to have a photography day out and of course two more gym sessions.

Now feeling so self righteous for my gym work today I’ll be sure to have a slice of cake or two this evening to celebrate. I made the cake yesterday and cake is a treat to us so I don’t feel bad at all.

ANIMALS…

GETTING TO KNOW MY READER FRIENDS…

What is a challenging or memorable experience you had out of or in your comfort zone?

Until next week, stay well.

Hi people 🌻

LIFE

MORE LIFE:

I decided to post up something today because I am trying to kill some time. I have a colonoscopy tomorrow 😏 and of course the prep is today. Without going into too much detail…six yrs ago I received the kit our government sends out people of a certain age for bowel screening. I am one of the few that used it and it came back positive so had to have a check up. After the colonoscopy then I was told there was a small pre-cancerous growth and it was removed. Three yrs later I was still clear as I had to change some of my diet and take a light medication. If I’m clear tomorrow I don’t need to go back for five years. I know people don’t like to talk about it, but in Australia bowel cancer kills more people than heart disease so if you’ve not had this procedure maybe think about it more seriously. I am grateful for having been sent the kit six yrs ago. This has been your public health message for the day. 😃

BOOKS:

On a better note, I finished Charlotte Wood’s latest book, Stone Yard Devotional. The blurb on the book states:

“A woman abandons her city life and marriage to return to the place of her childhood, holing up in a small religious community hidden away on the stark plains of the Monaro.*

She does not believe in God, doesn’t know what prayer is, and finds herself living this strange, reclusive life almost by accident. As she gradually adjusts to the rhythms of monastic life, she finds herself turning again and again to thoughts of her mother, whose early death she can’t forget.

Disquiet interrupts this secluded life with three visitations. First comes a terrible mouse plague, each day signalling a new battle against the rising infestation.

Second is the return of the skeletal remains of a sister who left the community decades before to minister to deprived women in Thailand – then disappeared, presumed murdered.

Finally, a troubling visitor to the monastery pulls the narrator further back into her past.

With each of these disturbing arrivals, the woman faces some deep questions. Can a person be truly good? What is forgiveness? Is loss of hope a moral failure? And can the business of grief ever really be finished?’

I found the tale to just be a steady, almost linear narration, if that can be said, with a lot of dipping into the past. I enjoyed the writing but at times it moved around from topic to topic and I had to back track again. I thought the descriptions of the location were good but I didn’t always feel much for the characters. The description of the nun who died was more of an outline but the time leading up to the arrival of her bones at the premises were more descriptive. She had been missing for several years and then her remains found. Permission had to be granted by authorities to bury her at the convent.

I never completely understood the reasons why the protagonist left her home, husband and all she had for her childhood memories , yet it seemed she had to in order to come to terms with her mother’s death and a couple of other issues. Then interwoven throughout the entire story, like fabric on a loom was this enormous mouse plague that is very gruesome in its description. Mice eating the head of a pigeon, running in the neighbouring fields in their thousands, making so much noise in the walls of the buildings.

Then a couple of other characters are thrown in who went to school with the woman, causing more childhood memories. One was a woman who was bullied by the protagonist in high school and she is trying to overcome her feelings of guilt now she is an adult.

It is a story I’m not likely to forget, the tempo of the book was steady but I got a bit bored with the repetitive memories but I am the type of person who just wants people to ” get on with it”.😳 o others may not be bothered.

I think overall there was more to enjoy than not enjoy. I like her writing. The other book I read by Charlotte Woods was the Weekend which I really liked but that dealt in memories also. I thought that book was more cohesive in the telling of the tale.

But do feel free to disagree with me. I’d like to know what others thought. I’ve not read reviews yet but now I’m finished I will.

PHOTOGRAPHY

I didn’t do any this week but did study it a bit and edited some of my fungi photos. I will include a favourite below.

FAMILY:

Ollie’s big news is he learned how to shake hands. That little fuzzy paw sticking out is just the cutest thing I’ve seen in awhile. Peannie doesn’t have it yet. She is too food focused on the treat. I really thought she’d get it before him as she is so smart at other things. She figured out that after the postie delivers mail to the front of house where mailbox is, he then drives his postie motorbike up the road and around the curve and passes the gate at the back of our yard. So the routine is: bark at postie at mailbox in the front, then run as fast as she can to the back of the yard and watch him drive by again. Ollie is right behind her but she is much faster. Ollie wasn’t sure why he was running after her in such a panic but now he gets it. Dogs are so funny.

I hope all of you have a good week.

MY QUESTION FOR THE WEEK:

What made you laugh this week?

Bye for now ❤️

Everybody walks past a thousand story ideas every day. The good writers are the ones who see five or six of them. Most people don’t see any.”  Orson Scott

Books

I am having a lot of winter fun journaling with my new desk space. I have a new bright lamp arriving soon too. 

Keeping track of what I want to do/read/photograph on a really cold, blowy winter’s day is great fun. I do some junk journaling too and play with a couple of wonderful sticker books I have. I even got my fountain pen filled with ink again.

I recently acquired Julia Cameron’s latest book, Walking In This World. I can’t tell you what it is about yet but once into it I will. 

I finished the book The Sea, The Sea by Iris Murdoch.  I am really glad I read it. There was so much in it. 

There is such a myriad of motivations that drive the protagonist, Charles Arrowby and the other characters that Iris Murdoch lays bare. There is human vanity, jealousy, and lack of compassion behind the various characters, especially Charles. The whole story is played out against the ocean from beautiful to terrifying. The ocean is a metaphor for Charles’ actions and mood. He varies from erratic, gentle, terrifying anger then calm.

I began the latest book by Charlotte Wood, an author who I like. Stone Yard Devotional but I can’t say anything yet as I only cracked the pages last night.

I did finish another short book by David Sedaris on audible.  It is titled Naked and it is both sad at times then hilarious.

 Sadness as he describes his mother’s death and funny when he visit a nudist colony. Non fiction memoir at its best is what Sedaris is known for.

I like hearing him talk about his family. His father and mother were unusual characters and he portrays them in both an exasperating and loving way especially as they age. They was so much dysfunction in that family between him and his siblings yet they all remained close.

He explains how hard it was growing up with OCD-compulsive behaviours.  For example he would get out of his chair at school and go over and lick the light switch, he had so many bizarre behaviours that he couldn’t control. He was bullied very much as a result of his behaviour. He spent time in his room making very high-pitched noises in his throat.  The behaviours were the only way he could comfort himself before the cycle began again.

 His visitation to a nudist colony retreat was very funny – both how he handled walking around nude and the descriptions of the others. 

 He is very good describing his observations of people which I love. I spend a lot of time going out and observing people  myself with my camera and although I don’t write about them I enjoy photographing them. 

Photography

 There is a Facebook page that is called Street Photos. Each day they take the best street photography posted in a 24-hour period and post up what they see as the best photos. 

 I submit two photos a day but have yet to be selected in the “best of”.  There are many excellent photographers on the site and people “like” the ones they think are worthy. It makes me really study how I take photos and I find they are getting better. 

Good photos of people have colour, gesture and light. They also need somewhat of a story or reason to exist. One also needs a good character, location and event. (See comment under a recent street photo I took above.

 The photo is good if you can get all six of those  features but it is very difficult.  It is more challenging if one doesn’t live in London, NYC, Venice or other beautiful cities.  One must work hard to find the equivalent in Hobart!  The biggest task is just to have that information in your head before you push the shutter. 

 I have been studying the book The Photography Storytelling Workshop by Finn Beales. It is a five-step guide to creating unforgettable photographs. I am taking lots of notes in the margins. 

So enough on books and photos.  

 Pets

We were at the vet’s again this week. We took our cat Grizzy for his final dental check after his big clean.  He is doing very well. Ollie goes every three months for an injection that hopefully keeps him mobile on his back, reconstructed leg. He is doing well and so far, no arthritis. He will be five years old in August already.

 Food

Yesterday I cleaned a few things that were hiding in the back of the refrigerator and found a bottle of Marion’s Kitchen Satay Sauce. I forgot it was there. She was a MasterChef contestant, winner?  I forget, from a few years ago and has a line of Asian style sauces and kits. I have used them once or twice before and they were good. 

I put some chicken, potatoes, carrots and onions into the slow cooker and all the sauce from the bottle and stirred it so everything is covered. The smell is wonderful as it is a really cold Sunday (10C  –  50F) as it is quite windy with the cold coming down from the mountain. It feels like 30.  S0 this is just what we will need later.

Your turn 😄🌻

 Let me know something fun you did this past week and we’ll keep the conversation going. 

 

Bye for now…